


Saviour

by ARtheBard



Series: JEmily Forever [3]
Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-29
Updated: 2017-04-29
Packaged: 2018-10-25 09:28:55
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 17
Words: 16,220
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10761438
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ARtheBard/pseuds/ARtheBard
Summary: The team travels to Denali National Park in Alaska to find out who is binding women and tossing them, clad only in bikinis, into a near freezing river. With thousands of miles to use as his hunting ground and torture chamber, the team has their work cut out for them. And when one has to take a plunge, will they be returning to Quantico an agent short?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Started to hit my stride with this one. Also the start of intense research I would do on the places they go and the crimes they can face.

“You are wrong, Morgan! You need to get your head out of your ass and admit it!” Jennifer Jareau nearly shouts.

“JJ, you don’t have the experience to back up your statement,” Derek Morgan counters. “You need to admit when you are wrong.”

“I am not wrong!”

The argument in the break room continues as Spencer Reid walks in. He sees Emily Prentiss leaning against the counter by the coffee pot, mug in hand, watching the other 2 fight.

“That sounds intense. Is it about a case?”

“Nope,” Emily takes a sip of coffee. “Football.”

“Football?” Spencer says in confusion. “It’s not even football season yet!”

“I know. They are arguing about whether the quaterend or the tightback that were just drafted will be the key to the Redskins making the playoffs this year.”

As one, JJ and Morgan turn and glare at Emily. “Quarter- _back_   and Tight- _end_!” they state in unison.

Emily just shrugs. As Penelope Garcia walks in she playfully slaps Emily’s shoulder. “You’re going to lose your ‘Butch Card’ for not knowing enough about football.”

Emily grins. “I know enough to just watch it for the cheerleaders.”

“And ‘Butch Card’ reissued,” Garcia chuckles as the argument heats up a bit more. “Do you think there’s going to be bloodshed?”

“Maybe. But that’s why I’m keeping an eye on them. I’d hate to have to hear Morgan whine about JJ kicking his ass.” Morgan turns and glares again at Emily who just smiles back at him.

As he and JJ go back to arguing, Garcia looks at Emily. “So, have you all gotten around to setting a date yet? I mean, it’s been 3 months since you put a ring on her finger.”

“We’ve discussed it some. She really wants a fall wedding for some reason.”

Garcia starts to laugh. “And let me guess, she wants maroon and gold as the colors?”

Emily looks at Garcia in surprise. “Yeah. How did you know?”

“Redskins colors,” Reid answers.

“And if she’s mentioned a date I bet it will coincide with the weekend the Redskins don’t play,” Garcia theorizes.

Emily frowns. “Well, she did mention needing to check a calendar before choosing a day. I am not going to plan my wedding around football!”

“If you have a fall wedding you are. I can see it now,” Garcia draws an imaginary picture frame in the air. “You’ll be standing at the altar in your football uniform, your groomsmen and women in theirs. JJ’s bridesmaids cartwheeling down the aisle in cheerleading outfits, JJ’s skirt the prettiest one of them all.”

Despite the horror that some of that could actually be true, Emily laughs at the image Garcia paints. “Well, the colors are fine but I am not having helmet head in my wedding pictures.” Emily quirks an eyebrow. “JJ in a cheerleading skirt though… _that_  has potential.”

JJ had been concentrating on her argument with Morgan but Emily’s last comment reaches her ears. She slowly turns and lifts an unamused eyebrow at Emily. “Excuse me?”

Emily blushes bright red. “Uh, nothing, dear. Love you. Gotta work. Bye.”

Emily hurries off to her desk. JJ glances at her watch and looks at Morgan. “I need to get to work, too. $100 bucks says the quarterback is the key.”

Morgan nods and extends his hand. “You’re on.”

They shake on the bet that is sure to be forgotten by everyone but Reid by the end of the coming football season. Emily glances up as JJ heads back to her office. Just before she leaves the bullpen area, JJ looks over her shoulder, her eyes meeting Emily’s. They share a smile then both get going on their day.


	2. Chapter 2

It is just after 4 and Emily is opening what will be her last folder of the day. She cringes as scenes from a brutal home invasion assault her eyes. Taking a deep breath she is about to start reading the police report when Reid interrupts her.

“Uh oh. I think we have a case.”

Emily looks over her shoulder to see JJ jogging towards Hotch’s office, a stack of papers in her hand. Emily closes the file in front of her and puts it with another stack she has to review. She sticks that entire stack in her briefcase, knowing Reid is right. A moment later, Hotch picks up his phone as JJ heads into the bullpen.

“Conference room, guys.”

The profilers follow her in, sitting in their normal seats around the table. Hotch walks in, shutting the door behind him. He nods at JJ to begin. She grabs the remote and starts the computer file playing on the flat screen.

“Denali National Park in Alaska, Nenana Gorge region. Over the past 4 weeks a body has been found around the Class 4 rapids.” She hits a button and 4 women appear on the screen. “Each woman was reported missing on a Wednesday and found on Sunday. The most recent found yesterday. The women were not dead when they entered the water but succumbed to various blunt trauma, drowning and exposure related issues.”

“How do they know the deaths are not accidental?” Rossi probes.

“For 1, the river is glacier fed.”

“Which means the women probably didn’t choose to wear bikinis,” Morgan points out.

“Exactly. And two,” she pulls up another picture, a close up of one woman’s hands. “Their hands were all bound in front of them.”

“Oh God,” Garcia mutters in revulsion.

“This is a national park so we have jurisdiction but we want to work closely with the locals,” Hotch states. “Pack warm clothes. Plane leaves at 6 a.m. Garcia, due to the time difference I want you with us. Pack up what you need and see if you can get someone to help you from here.”

“Would Kevin Lynch be okay, sir?”

“That’s fine,” Hotch agrees. “Clear your desks and head home. See you in the morning.”

The group stands, each one planning what they need to do to get ready for the cross country and beyond trip. Emily looks at JJ.

“Are you going to be okay? This will be your first really long trip away from Henry.”

JJ nods. Others may have missed it, but Emily can see the fear in the young mother’s eyes. Emily closes the door and pulls JJ close for a moment. After a moment, JJ takes a deep breath and looks up at Emily.

“Thank you. I needed that.”

Emily smiles. “Any time. Have you called your parents yet?”

JJ nods. “Yeah. It’s a 4 hour drive so Mom said she should be here by 9.”

“Good.” Emily pulls JJ close and kisses her forehead. “I love you, Jen.”

“I love you, too.”

The two separate long enough to settle their desks. They head out together to pack and prepare themselves mentally for their trip away from Henry.


	3. Chapter 3

Emily is not surprised when JJ rides in the backseat with their 5 month old son. He cackles and giggles, not noticing the tears in the eyes of his mother. JJ smiles at him, playing peek-a-boo and tickling him. Emily wishes she had autopilot on her SUV so she could just watch the interaction between the two blonds who have her heart.

In the condo, JJ puts Henry in his playpen in the bedroom as the two women repack their go bags for a trek into the Alaskan wilderness. As Emily grabs their 3-in-1 jackets from their storage closet, she looks over at JJ.

“What would happen if I suggested you sit this one out?”

“You’d be cut off for life,” JJ replies.

“Thought so.” Emily tosses the jackets on top of the bags and walks over to JJ, wrapping her arms around her waist. “He’s going to be fine. Your mother will take awesome care of him and spoil him rotten while we are gone. Which will just be a few days.”

“You don’t know how long we’ll be gone.”

“This guy is killing 1 woman a week. It’s a spree, JJ. We’ll catch him and be home before you know it.”

“Look, I know you’re trying to make me feel better about this but it’s not working.” JJ turns in Emily’s arms. “It’s bad enough when we have to go to California. But this time we’ll be all the way in Alaska with no quick way out. We’re flying into one city on the jet then taking smaller planes up to where we’ll hold the investigation. What if—”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa…what do you mean smaller planes?” Emily asks fearfully.

JJ stops her rant and looks into Emily’s eyes. “Oh my God…I’ve never seen you scared like this before.”

“What do you mean smaller planes?” Emily asks again.

If Emily hadn’t looked so afraid JJ might have laughed. “Uh, like Cessna’s and bush planes and stuff. There will probably be several picking us up to make sure we—Em?”

Emily drops down on the bed. JJ can see her shaking. “No way. The BAU jet is small enough. I can’t ride on something smaller.”

“Em, are you scared of flying?”

“Only on small planes. I know too much about wind currents and wind gusts and small planes just suck. There is no way they can handle the force of wind. No way.”

JJ kneels in front of Emily and takes her hands. “Emily, those types of planes have been flying in the Alaska wilderness for years. _Years_ , baby. And they are getting better all the time. We will be perfectly fine. I’ll hold your hand the entire trip. I promise.”

Emily stares into blue eyes full of confidence. She brings a hand up to JJ’s cheek. “Don’t ride in my plane.”

JJ sits back, stunned. “What?”

Emily looks over at Henry, who is watching his mothers intently. “Ride in a different one. Just in case. Okay?” Emily looks back to JJ.

JJ sighs and smiles. “Okay. But you better expect a big hug and a ‘Told you so’ when we get there and back safely.”

Emily manages a smile. “Deal.”

The two share a sweet kiss.

* * *

Emily has just moved her now packed SUV into a visitor spot in their condo parking garage. Taking her parking pass out she smiles as she sees Sandy Jareau pulling into the garage. Emily points to her now vacant spot and walks over to meet her fiancés mother.

“Mrs. Jareau! Good to see you again.”

“Emily, if you don’t start calling me Sandy I’m going to turn you over my knee,” Sandy teases.

“Of course. Sorry.” Emily hands her the parking pass. “Here, put this in your window. It will keep you from getting towed or booted. I’ve given building security your information but better safe than sorry.” Emily opens the back door and grabs Sandy’s bag from the back. “Is this everything?”

“Everything but my purse.” Sandy hooks her arm through Emily’s as they walk to the elevators. “So, do you have a date yet?”

“No, just a season. She wants to get married this fall but has to check a calendar or something first.”

“Of course she does. She’ll want to get married the day before the Redskins bye weekend,” Sandy says as if it’s common sense.

Emily stops and slowly looks at Sandy. “Are you  _serious_? She really wants to get married around a football schedule?”

“Of course, dear. It’s always been her dream. Redskins maroon and gold as her colors. Honeymoon the weekend of the bye week and be home in time for the next weekend’s game. She’s been talking about it since she was, oh, 12 or 13 maybe.”

Emily just stares for a moment then bursts out laughing. “I should probably be offended that our day is based on the Redskins but for some reason it really is just a very ‘JJ’ kind of thing.”

The two women laugh and head up to the condo. When JJ sees her mother, she bursts into tears. Sandy is shocked and looks to Emily for help as JJ throws herself into her mother’s arms.

“Long trip away from Henry with no quick way home,” Emily says gently. She pats JJ on the shoulder and continues on to the guest room with Sandy’s bag.

“Oh, sweetie, he will be fine,” Sandy comforts her daughter. “He’s tough just like his mother. And I promise to send you at least one picture a day until you get home.”

“I know. I know all of that. Still hurts like hell,” JJ sniffles.

“Because you are an amazing mother. I’d tell you it gets easier but I think we both know I’d be lying.” JJ just nods. “So I think you know you’re going to have to use this trip to help you make a big decision.”

“Yeah. I know.” JJ sighs and leans back. “Sometimes being an adult sucks.”

“Yes, Jennifer, it really does.”

Sandy gives her daughter another hug before they both go to check on Henry.


	4. Chapter 4

The next morning the BAU team has spread out on the plane, each trying to get some extra sleep before they get to Alaska. Reid has stretched out on the couch. Emily has her feet up on the seat in front of her, her head against the window. JJ is cuddled into Emily, her feet out in front of her. Morgan has stretched out on the floor, his Ipod playing. Rossi and Hotch have dozed off in their seats at the front of the plane.

The only person awake is Penelope Garcia. She doesn’t travel often and when she does she makes the most of her time on the luxury jet. She is working on her blog when an email pops up from Sandy Jareau. The technical analyst reads it and smiles. She shoots back an affirmative and closes out her blog, her new mission more appealing to her.

She eases out of her seat and over to Emily and JJ. She picks up their phones off the table and darts back to her seat. Scrolling through their pictures she sees both women have over a hundred shots, mostly of Henry.

“Oh, you guys are so sweet,” she whispers.

Hooking their phones up to her laptop she downloads them all and then returns the phones to there previous place, their owners none the wiser. Garcia scans through the photos, putting them in a particular order, adding captions and clip art where it fits. The final frame in this PowerPoint presentation is one that she had taken herself last weekend at the park. Emily lays on her back, flying Henry up in her arms over her head. JJ lays beside the brunette, staring up at her son. All three are laughing and oblivious to anyone out of their immediate area. Garcia adds one last caption: “Hope your flight is as good as mine was, Mommies!”

She smiles and saves the file. She emails it out to JJ, Emily and Sandy. She is still patting herself on the back a few minutes later when arms wrap around her from behind. She looks up and sees JJ, tears rolling down her cheeks.

“You rock, Garcia.”

Garcia grins proudly, “Back atcha, Jayje.”

JJ goes back and cuddles up to Emily again. But instead of going asleep she grabs her phone and plays the presentation one more time. Garcia just smiles and gets back to her blog.

* * *

 

Several hours later Emily is glad she is not the only one unhappy about the next leg of the trip.

“I’m telling you, Aaron, there is no way that plane will hold two people and luggage,” Rossi states emphatically.

“Actually, Rossi, studies have shown that—”

“Reid, unless you can tell me that plane is 100% safe, never had an accident, and never even had a flat tire, you’d best shut up.”

Reid quickly scans the information in his head. He clamps his mouth shut, pivots and walks away. Rossi rubs his face.

“I think I feel worse now.”

Hotch laughs. “Dave, things will be fine. Look, if I’m wrong I’ll buy the beer tonight.”

Rossi narrows his eyes at his friend. “If you’re wrong, I won’t be around to enjoy it.”

“True. But the first toast will be to your memory.”

Rossi starts muttering in Italian as Hotch walks away chuckling. Soon a string of 6 planes is making their way to the Denali National Park ranger station, where the BAU will be set up for the duration of the case. Arrangements had been made at 2 different B&B’s near the park entrance to house the team. SUV’s will be waiting for them. In under an hour, the team is disembarking the airplanes. Rossi storms over to Hotch.

“I just found out we could have driven here from Anchorage!” he shouts.

“True,” Hotch concedes. “But it would have taken 4 and 1/2 hours and if this unsub sticks to his schedule another woman will be disappearing tomorrow. We can drive back when this is over, Dave. I stand by my decision.”

The part of Rossi that is still terrified wants to argue the point further. But the rational, profiler side that wants to save lives knows he needs to shut up. Cussing softly in Italian, he goes to grab his bag and heads to the waiting SUV.

Across the way, JJ is looking a little green. Emily wraps an arm around her shoulders. “Am I allowed to say I told you so?”

“No,” JJ grunts.

The blond, being the smallest member of the team, had been in the smallest plane with her bag and most of the electronics they brought with them. All had watched as winds that had shaken their planes a little had made JJ’s plane bounce around like a basketball. Usually not one for motion sickness, this ride had been too much for JJ. She had managed not to throw-up…barely. But it was going to be a while before she felt better. Emily gives her a kiss on the forehead.

“Come on, sweetheart. Let’s get you somewhere you can lay down.”

JJ just nods and allows Emily to lead her away from the blasted contraptions that had brought them to this wilderness paradise.


	5. Chapter 5

In the conference room they will be using, JJ offers to help Garcia get set up, since that will mostly entail the liaison sitting and doing nothing. No one argues with her.

As Reid stretches out a map along one wall, Morgan walks up beside him.

“Whoa. That’s a lot of ground to cover.”

“Denali is six million acres of wild land, bisected by one ribbon of road. It also includes Mt McKinley, North America’s highest peak. You can hike, camp—”

“Reid, I get it. You read the literature. I’m just saying it’s a lot of ground to cover to figure out where this guy is, where he’s going to strike next, and do it all before tomorrow.”

Reid stares at the map a moment, then nods. “You’re right.” He looks over at Garcia. “Garcia, do you know if that program I asked you to run is finished yet?”

“I need about another 5 minutes, Boy Wonder, then I can let you know.” She glances at JJ, who is lying back in her chair, an arm across her eyes. “I’m pretty much a one woman show over here.”

Reid just smiles, feeling bad that JJ had to take the small plane.

Emily starts to tack pictures and preliminary information on the victims to a corkboard. When the team arrived, they had been given pictures of the women before they had been killed. All women are brunettes with brown eyes. All single. All in jobs that could be considered “men’s careers”. And two had been gay. As she finishes with the board, she turns and sees everyone except JJ staring at her. She straightens her posture and glares at each man in turn.

“The next person that gives me the ‘Gee, Emily could be next so we better protect her’ look will get a lesson in hand-to-hand combat he won’t soon forget.”

Wisely, all go back to what they had been doing. She hears laughter behind her. Turning she comes face to face with another brown-eyed brunette. The woman extends her hand.

“I don’t know who you are but I like you already,” she says with an open smile.

Emily chuckles. “SSA Emily Prentiss.”

“I’m Cheryl Runningwater, superintendant of this station. I’ll be your hostess for what I hope is a very short visit.”

Emily smiles. “We hope the same thing. Let me introduce you to the team. This is our unit chief, Aaron Hotchner.” He walks over to shake the newcomer’s hand. “These are SSA’s Derek Morgan, Dave Rossi, Dr Spencer Reid, and Jennifer Jareau. And our technical analyst Penelope Garcia.”

Cheryl nods to each person in turn. “I’m really glad you all are here. I hate the bureaucratic bullshit that kept you all from being called in after the first woman was found. I really hate politics.”

Emily laughs and lays a hand on Cheryl’s arm. “A woman after my own heart.” JJ had removed her arm when she had first heard Cheryl address Emily. When she saw the look Cheryl gave Emily, and Emily’s hand on the new woman’s arm, the green of sickness had turned to the green of jealousy. She hasn’t even realized she’s made a sound until Garcia turns to look at her.

“Geez, Jayje,” Garcia whispers. “Jealous much?”

“Shut up, Garcia. I’m not jealous.”

“Right. That’s why you growled at the hottie in the green uniform?”

“I didn’t growl. I just…my stomach is still upset and…oh just shut up.”

JJ gets up and leaves the room to try to find something to drink. She shoots a glance towards Emily. The profiler, the chief, and Morgan are looking over the victim board trying to fill in any new pieces to the puzzle the chief might have. When she sees the chief put a hand on Emily’s shoulder and point towards one of the victims, JJ’s stomach does another flip. She rolls her eyes, having an angry conversation with herself.

“ _You’re just sick, JJ. Get over it. Emily is not flirting with that woman_.” She looks back over her shoulder and sees Morgan has gone off to talk to Reid. Emily lays a hand on the chief’s arm again, nodding at something she is being told. This time JJ can’t deny it. She walks into the bathroom and leans on the sink, staring at herself in the mirror. “ _Fuck. I am jealous. I’m just going to blame the sickness and missing Henry. And then tonight I’m going to tell Emily in no uncertain terms to stop flirting unintentionally with that woman. Yeah, ‘cause that’s real mature, Jen_.”

A few minutes later, Emily walks in. “Jen? You okay?”

JJ turns and looks at Emily. Her eyes scan her fiancé from head to toe, taking in the beauty before her. Emily sees the almost predatory look in JJ’s eyes and is very confused.

“Jen?”

JJ walks over and pushes Emily back against the door, giving her a long, passionate kiss. As it ends, Emily is visibly aroused and standing on weakened legs.

“You’re mine, Emily Prentiss. Don’t you dare forget it.”

Not really sure what just happened but knowing she liked it, Emily can only nod. “Right. Of course. No doubt at all.”

JJ nods, satisfied. She moves Emily out of the way and leaves the baffled profiler alone in the restroom. Emily shakes her head to clear it.

“Damn. How the hell do I work the rest of the day after that?”

She splashes some cold water on her face and heads back to the conference room to get her assignment for the day.


	6. Chapter 6

In the conference room Reid is now putting color-coded pins on his map. Garcia had run a program that took river speed, the weight of the women, and where the bodies had ended up to guesstimate where they may have been thrown into the river. Emily walks up and looks over his shoulder.

“Not very narrowed down, is it?”

“No, it’s not,” Reid agrees. “Unfortunately we would need more bodies to narrow the parameters.”

A voice interrupts him. “Actually, I can maybe help you out some.” He turns to see Cheryl walking over. She points to 2 pins. “There is no way a human could get there, especially if they were dealing with an unwilling partner.”

“Rugged terrain?” Reid asks.

“Yes. No clear path. Even a moose or deer trail would be tough to follow.” She points to two others. “Now near these, there are look out points. People can look down to the river below and take in all the beauty the park has to offer. People are told to stick to established trails which of course means that over time people have worn down additional paths along the two ridges to try to get the best picture possible.”

Morgan had walked over, listening to what Cheryl is saying. “So how much area are we looking at if we staked it out?”

Cheryl thinks about it a moment. “Well, off the top of my head, I’d say maybe 100 yards in either direction of the established point.”

Morgan turns to Hotch. “There could be evidence up there, Hotch.”

Hotch nods. “Right. Morgan, Prentiss go.”

Emily and Morgan head out. Emily takes just a second to wink in JJ’s direction. JJ smiles back and nods.

Once they are in the SUV, Morgan glances at Emily. “JJ going to be okay?”

“Yeah, she will be. Motion sickness is a bitch.”

Morgan chuckles. “True. But I’m talking about the jealousy.”

Emily looks at Morgan in surprise. “Jealousy? What jealousy?”

“Oh, come on, you telling me you didn’t see it?”

Emily thinks a moment then shakes her head. “No. See what?”

Morgan laughs heartily. “I think if you had touched Cheryl once more, or she had touched you, JJ might have pulled her gun.”

“What? That’s crazy! She knows my heart belongs—” and suddenly the bathroom incident becomes clear in Emily’s head. She starts to laugh. “Oh my God…she was jealous! That is not like her so I’ll blame the motion sickness for now.” She grins slyly at Morgan. “But I am still going to tease her about it later.”

The two agents laugh and continue on to the first scenic overlook. After parking, they hike another hour and a half to the first point. They scan the ground the entire way up but it is obvious it is a well traveled path. Any evidence directly along the route would have been obliterated by this time. They pass 20 hikers making their way back down the trail.

As they get to the overlook, they see foot-worn paths to either side of the park-maintained area. Six more hikers are there taking in the view. Emily looks at Morgan.

“Okay, you have a woman in a bikini who does not want to be with you. How does no one see you drag her up here? It’s a long walk and we’ve seen, what, 30 people?”

“At least. I think this is a long shot but let’s check these side trails anyway.”

Emily nods and they look up and down both paths. As they had feared there is nothing to be found. As they walk back down, Morgan glances at his watch.

“I don’t think we can risk checking the other site today. How about first light we check out the other one before reporting to the station?”

“Sounds good to me,” Emily agrees.

They head back to the station and find the others had also decided to call it a day. Garcia was still waiting for some programs to run, complaining about the slower connection damaging her reputation for finding information almost faster than it’s requested. Hotch looks at the team.

“Five of us will be staying at the lodge down the road. Two of us will be staying in the guest cabin at Cheryl’s place.”

Morgan wraps and arm around Emily. “I’ll stay with Prentiss,” he offers.

She backhands him in the stomach with a grin. “In your dreams, buddy.”

Even Hotch chuckles at that joke. It’s decided that Reid and Morgan will take the guest cabin while the others go to the lodge. Morgan agrees to pick up Emily at 6 a.m. so they can check out the other overlook.

As the group leaves for the evening, eyes hidden just in the tree line watch them. They narrow as they see Emily put her hand protectively on JJ’s back.

“Don’t touch her, bitch,” a voice whispers toward them. “Don’t you fucking touch her.”

Just before she gets in the SUV, JJ stops and stares into the distance. After a second she shakes her head and gets into the vehicle.

“Don’t worry, my love. I’ll save you,” the voice promises.


	7. Chapter 7

When they reach their room for the night JJ falls face first onto the bed. Emily pats her leg sympathetically and heads into the bathroom first. When she comes back after showering, JJ still hasn’t moved. She lies down beside her and starts to rub her back.

“Baby, why don’t you take a shower? It might make you feel better,” Emily suggests.

“Nothing will make me feel better. I think I’m dying,” JJ mumbles.

Emily chuckles. “You’re not dying. Look, take a shower and I’ll give you a back rub until you fall asleep. I’ll have some Aleve and water waiting for you when you’re done in there, okay?”

“Okay.” JJ takes a deep breath and sits up. “Em, how long do you think it would take to drive home?”

Emily bites back a laugh, seeing that JJ is serious. “Days, sweetheart. Lots of days.”

“Fuck.” JJ pushes to her feet and stumbles to the bathroom.

Emily can only shake her head. When JJ comes out she looks like she’s feeling a little better. She takes the Aleve and drops down onto the bed. Emily turns the lights out and crawls in beside her lover. JJ moans as Emily begins to rub small circles around her back. Feeling the tense muscles, Emily sits up and deepens her ministrations. After 15 minutes Emily leans down and whispers.

“Jennifer?” No answer. Emily smiles and kisses JJ’s neck. “I love you, Jennifer.”

* * *

 

The next morning Emily is finishing her coffee when Morgan arrives. Pulling her jacket closed she heads out and climbs in the SUV.

“Does it ever get warm up here?”

Morgan glances at her. “Do I look like Reid?”

Emily laughs. “Not last time I checked. How was bunking with him?”

“Do you know that guy spouts stats in his sleep? Bet you didn’t know that the fourth Dr Who was—”

“Tom Baker, 1974-1981,” she answers without thinking. Morgan’s voice stutters to a stop and he slowly turns his head to see Emily blushing and scrunching up her face in embarrassment.

“My God, Emily, you really  _are_  a nerd!”

“I swear, Morgan, you ever breathe a word of this to anyone I will deny it.”

Morgan busts out laughing, “Oh, Princess, this is way too good to keep to myself. It’s just a matter of using it at the right time.”

Emily just stares out the window knowing that someday Morgan will make good on his threat. They finally reach the parking area for the second overlook. They are the second vehicle to pull in. After a long hike they make it to the top. They had scanned the path on the way up and it didn’t appear as trampled as the one they had seen the day before. Emily glances over the edge.

“Looks to be about a 20 foot drop into the river. No major rocks or anything that I can see.” She turns back to Morgan. “It’s a good place to drop someone.”

“I wish that were a comforting thought. Let’s check out the paths along the edge.”

They head to the left first. Nothing jumps out at them as they scan the trail. They head back and take the second path. As they walk, Emily glances to her left and sees something that makes her stop. She bends down as if retying her hiking boot.

“Morgan, we’re being watched from across the river.”

He casually glances around, seeing the man across the way with the binoculars. When Emily stands, he pulls her close, as if they are a couple out for a romantic stroll.

“Isn’t that where Runningwater said no one would want to go?”

“Yep.”

“Then I think we have another place to check out.”

“Definitely. Let’s just see this to the end anyway.”

“Okay.”

The two continue along the path, keeping up the “happy couple” ruse since the man never stops watching them. Satisfied there are no clues to be found, the two head back down to their SUV. Emily pulls out her satellite phone.

“Hotch. No luck at the second overlook but we did see someone watching us from one of the places Cheryl said no one would go. We’re going to check it out before coming in.”

“Okay. Be careful, Em, this is the day he grabs someone and all the women have disappeared while out on a hike.”

“Yeah, but they were all alone. I’m with Morgan. I’ll be fine.”

Emily disconnects, obviously angry. She stares at the phone. “Not to mention I’m a fucking FBI agent, Hotch, and I know there’s a sicko out there hunting women.”

“Good thing you hung up first, Prentiss,” Morgan says.

“I’m just sick and tired of being treated like I need to be protected. It’s insulting!”

“Hey, now, it’s not like that. We all know you can take care of yourself. But we’re a family. Tell me, if the guy was hunting black men would Hotch throw extra words of caution at me?”

Emily sighs. “Probably.”

“He says it because he cares. We all do. Just forget about it for now and let’s find the bastard,” Morgan encourages. Emily just nods and stares out the window.

It takes them a little over an hour to reach the third place they want to check out and they realize they are going to have to hike some pretty rough terrain to get where they need to go. Morgan looks at Emily.

“It’s like Cheryl said, no way you could drag a woman from here up to where we saw that guy.”

Emily tilts her head to the side considering another option. “What if…what if he stalks from this side, later follows his prey, then dumps them on the other side.”

Morgan considers it, then nods. “If that’s the case, then Emily, he could have focused on you.”

_“If_  that’s was the unsub we saw. Besides if he sticks to his schedule this is the day he takes someone. He hasn’t had time to stalk me.”

“Maybe. Look, let’s just get up there and see what we can find.”

The two head up the hill. About 20 feet into the brush they discover a wildlife trail that has been widened by man. Ax marks show where branches have been trimmed away. A machete had been used to cut back some of the brush.

“He could get a woman up this way,” Emily points out.

Morgan nods. Thinking they may have found the unsub’s trail, they move on with more caution. Emily snaps a couple pictures of the path to share with the team. When they finally reach the top they find a large cleared area. Morgan and Emily stare at the altar in front of them.

“This can’t be good,” Morgan mutters.

Emily snaps some more pictures then steps towards the altar. There is a book lying on top of it. She pulls off the leather gloves she had been wearing and pulls on a latex glove. She opens the book and starts to read.

Morgan walks around the perimeter of the area, looking for anything that points to the missing women. He is about to give up when he sees a piece of cloth under a small bush. He slips on a latex glove and pulls the cloth out. It’s a tee shirt with the logo for a local bar and grill.

“Prentiss, I found a shirt. I’m pretty sure one of the victims was last seen wearing it.” She doesn’t answer. Morgan turns and sees her staring in horror at the book in front of her. “Prentiss?” He stands, putting the shirt in an evidence bag. He walks over to Emily. “What are you seeing?”

Emily slowly turns and looks at him. “He thinks he’s saving someone, Morgan. He has killed these women to save someone else. He’s delusional and he’s on a mission.”

Morgan takes a deep breath. “He’s not going to quit until he feels he’s finished his mission.”

“We need to get this to back. He has notes on other people he is hoping to save. We need to figure out who these women are and who they need saving from.”

Morgan nods. Emily takes the book and they quickly head back down to their SUV. Once they are on their way, Emily calls in with what they have found.

“I’m telling you, Hotch, it’s his target list if we can just decipher it. It’s a lot of rambling but I think some may be religious quotes.”

“Then we better hurry. Another woman was reported missing an hour ago.”

“We’ll be there soon.” Emily hangs up the phone and looks at Morgan. “He’s already taken someone.”

Morgan slams the steering wheel in frustration and pushes the gas pedal down a little more.


	8. Chapter 8

Back at the ranger station, JJ had been having a much better day. When she woke up all the negative effects from her flight had left. She had talked to her mother and Henry. And now she was drafting a press release to reassure people that Denali National Park was still a safe place to visit.

When the battery light on her laptop starts to flash in warning she realizes she forgot to charge it last night. She heads out to Hotch’s SUV to get her laptop case, which had been left in there the day before. As she closes the door she jumps, startled to see a man standing right beside her.

“Oh, hi. You startled me. Are you one of the rangers?”

He smiles sweetly at her. “Yes. Sort of. I’m one of the volunteers.”

JJ smiles at him. “That’s great. Do you get out on the trails a lot or do you do more stuff around the office?”

“A little of both. Most recently I’ve been clearing some trails for people looking for spiritual rebirth.”

“Um, what does that mean?”

“Baptisms. Only by cleansing themselves in the waters of Christ can people be saved.”

“Yes, that’s true. Are you part of a church?” JJ asks. Something about this man is making the hair on the back of her neck stand up.

“Not exactly. My church is out in God’s hands.”

“Right. That’s…nice. Look, I really need to get back inside, Mr.—” she pauses, hoping he’ll supply a name for Garcia to run.

“Oh, forgive me. I’m John Gabriel.” He extends his hand.

JJ smiles and shakes his hand. “SSA Jennifer Jareau.”

He doesn’t release her hand. “You are a beautiful woman, Jennifer. But everyone knows that some of the prettiest creatures are the most deadly.”

She pulls her hand away. “Excuse me?”

“I will save her as I’ve saved the others. You will not destroy her. I will baptize her so she can be reborn into goodness.”

JJ steps back but bumps into the SUV. As she starts to step around him he pulls a taser and fires. JJ drops to the ground as the volts shoot through her body.

“Jennifer? Nay, you are Jezebel,” Gabriel says with a sneer.

JJ sees the boot coming at her head but she is unable to move away from it. Her world goes black.

* * *

 

As Morgan and Emily pull into the ranger station they are nearly hit by a pick up truck tearing out of the lot. They both comment about the idiot in the other vehicle. They pull up on the left side of Hotch’s SUV and start into the building. A moan catches Emily’s ear. She steps around the front of the vehicle and drops everything in her hands.

“JENNIFER! Morgan! Get an ambulance!”

Morgan races inside as Emily drops down beside her fiancé. “Jennifer? Easy, baby, don’t move.”

There is a large bruise on the right side of JJ’s head. Blood flows out of a cut along her eyebrow. A discarded taser is on the ground, its leads still in JJ’s chest.

“Oh, Jen, what the fuck happened to you?” Emily mutters. As JJ starts to move some more, Emily lays a hand on her to still her. “Stay still, honey, help will be here soon.”

Emily hears running behind her and turns to see Hotch running up to her. “What happened?”

“Looks like she got tazed and then hit. Maybe kicked. She’s starting to come around. What the hell was she doing out here alone?”

“I don’t know,” Hotch answers.

“Are there camera’s on the lot?”

“Garcia’s checking now.”

“E—Em,” JJ says weakly.

Emily turns back to JJ. “Jen, I’m right here. Lay still, sweetheart.”

“J—John Gab—Gabriel. Vol—volunteer,” JJ forces out.

Emily looks at Hotch who nods. “Got it.” He jumps up and races back inside to get Runningwater to pull her volunteer files. It’s likely the name is false but just in case he has to follow up. A hand falls on Emily’s shoulder.

“An ambulance is on the way,” Reid says. “Here’s a first aid kit for her head.”

“Thank, Reid.”

Emily pulls out some gauze and puts a little pressure on JJ’s cut. JJ winces at the pressure. “I’m sorry, honey, I just need to stop the bleeding.”

“It’s…okay. More to…to tell…you.”

“What else, Jen?”  
“He…he’s saving you…from me.”

Emily shakes her head in confusion. “Saving me? I don’t—” And then some of the ramblings in the book she had found flash into her mind. “He’s saving all these women from what he perceives as threats to their purity.”

“But he is only saving brown-eyed brunettes,” Reid points out.

“He’s saving the same person over and over again. If we can figure out who that is we can find him.”

Reid nods. “I’ll head inside and start combing through that book you found. There has to be a clue in there as to who he really needs to save.”

Emily just nods as she hears the ambulance pulling up beside them. Soon JJ is loaded on a stretcher and into the back of the bus. Emily starts to climb up in the back with her but a hand stops her.

“I got her, Prentiss,” Rossi says.

“What? No!”

“Emily, the book you found is the key to saving the woman out there right now. And it’s the key to making sure the unsub doesn’t come after you next. You’ve already been through it once. We don’t have time to waste. We need your eyes on that book.”

Emily reluctantly agrees. She looks up at JJ then back to Rossi. “Tell her I love her. And don’t you dare let that fucker get near her.”

Rossi nods. “You got it on both counts, kid.”

Rossi climbs up in the ambulance and it goes screaming out of the lot. Emily watches until it disappears then heads inside to help find the man that hurt JJ.


	9. Chapter 9

It surprised no one to find out there was no one by the name John Gabriel in the volunteer files. Rossi had called with a description of the man from JJ. Somehow the man had avoided all the security cameras so that was all they had to go on. The pick up truck that had nearly hit Morgan and Emily had been stolen. The man was still an unknown subject.

For three hours Emily and Reid pour over the book. They pull out various passages and have Garcia run it through some of her programs. Anything that looks like it could refer to a specific person they get to Runningwater so the locals can try to match it to one of the victims or the missing woman.

Emily stands leaning on the table. Papers are scattered around it. So much information but nothing that helps them find the missing woman or the man who attacked JJ. Emily grabs the cup of coffee by her hand. She spins and throws it against the wall with a roar.

Everyone jumps and stares at the profiler. She takes a steadying breath. “I need some air.”

“Not alone you don’t,” Hotch replies. “Morgan go—”

“I don’t need a babysitter! I’m a fucking FBI agent, Hotch!”

He stares into her eyes. “So is JJ.”

The implication is that the unsub has already taken down one agent he could easily take down another. Brown eyes bore into brown eyes as Hotch and Emily stare each other down. Emily turns away first.

“Fine.”

She storms out of the room. Morgan glances at Hotch. Hotch just nods. With a sigh Morgan follows Emily out of the building. Once they get outside, Emily turns and points at Morgan.

“You can babysit me from there just fine, Morgan.”

“Emily, come on. Don’t be like this,” he says consolingly.

“Just give me some space, Derek. Please.”

Emily walks to a picnic area and drops down onto one of the benches. Morgan considers following her but understands that sometimes you just need to be alone with your own thoughts. He positions himself against the side of the building where he can see anyone who approaches the front doors or Emily.

At the table, Emily pulls out her phone. She pulls up the presentation Garcia had done for them. Tears well in her eyes as she sees the pictures of Henry and JJ flash across the screen. As it ends, she takes a deep breath to try to steady herself. She stares at her background picture: a smiling JJ holding Henry. She talks to them, working things out in her head as she goes.

“What are we missing? Why did he attack you to somehow save me? If he had asked I’d have told him you  _did_  save me. Both of you. Saved me from a life of darkness, loneliness, self-destruction. God, JJ, what would I have done if…” her voice trails off as she can’t even complete the thought. The sound of a car pulling into the lot behind her makes Emily turn. She sees Rossi…and JJ get out of it. She stands and hurries over to them.

“Jennifer! What are you doing here?”

JJ raises a hand up. “Please. Not so loud.”

Emily pulls her into a hug and whispers. “I’m sorry, sweetheart. But you should be resting at the hospital.”

“Their hospital is just a little clinic. And there was no way I was going back to the B&B alone. Rossi figured being here would be fine as long as I didn’t do anything really taxing. And as long as my head feels like a tractor trailer hit it I’ll be fine with that. ”

“Oh. Okay.” Emily looks beyond JJ to Rossi. “Thanks, Dave.”

Rossi smiles. “No problem.”

The group turns and heads back inside. Garcia is the first to see JJ.

“Jayje!” Everyone turns to look. JJ manages a smile.

“I’m okay. Mild concussion, couple of steri-strips, and a headache that’s worse than any hangover I’ve ever had.”

“Should you be resting somewhere?” Hotch asks with a glance at Rossi. The situation is explained to him and he nods. “Okay.”

Rossi walks over to a board now filled with religious quotes and iconography. “Anyone want to tell me why John the Baptist and the Angel Gabriel are on our suspect board? I’m pretty sure they are innocent.”

Reid walks over and explains what they have so far discovered. “The name he gave JJ was an alias. Based on the writings in the book, we think he has dubbed himself ‘John Gabriel’ because he really believes he’s helping save these women’s souls.”

Rossi shakes his head. “Of all the unsubs we deal with, I hate the ones that pervert religion the worst.”

“What we can’t figure out is what these women have been saved from,” Hotch points out. “We need to re-interview family and friends. And we need to do it quickly. Marielle Rogers only has a couple days. Rossi, Reid, take—”

“Wait a second…” Emily is staring at the board, seeing a pattern she hadn’t noticed before. Everyone waits as she studies it a moment. Then her eyes widen. “Oh my God…we’re dealing with 2 unsubs.”

Everyone turns and looks at the board. “What do you mean?” Reid asks.

“Okay, first his name: John the Baptist was a servant of God’s word, Gabriel was His messenger to humans. And then when he attacked JJ he said he was helping a church clear trails and that his church was out ‘in God’s hands’. And then look at these writings. They go from coherent thoughts to religion-based ramblings. But it always comes back to this,” she says pointing to a passage that had come up over and over.

“And the Master will deliver her into the baptismal pool,” Reid reads.

“He writes ‘The Master’. Not ‘I will’. He’s not working alone and he’s not the one calling the shots,” Emily finishes emphatically.

The room is silent as everyone views the evidence with this new line of thinking. Morgan is the first to break their contemplations.

“Okay, so there are two. We still can’t find the common thread tying our victims together.”

Emily nods, “Yes, we can. He called Jennifer ‘Jezebel’. We all know that story. What if we stop looking at common threads and start looking at something these 4 women were doing that could be considered sacrilegious? Okay, he feels he is saving me from a Jezebel. But how could he know  _anything_  about me to decide that I’m the one being swayed by her charms?”

“It’s all in his perceptions of good and evil,” Hotch says, investing himself in Emily’s theory. “At some point his path has crossed with these women and he has decided they’ve been wronged and must be saved.”

“And then he sends this John Gabriel out to do his bidding. He is probably the one who grabs the women and we know he was the one that attacked JJ at his ‘Master’s’ bidding,” Morgan finishes.

“We need to rethink this profile completely. And we still need to re-interview family and friends. Reid, Rossi, take the first two victims. Morgan, Prentiss the second two.” He looks at JJ. “Are you sitting this out?”

JJ forces herself to stand up. “No fucking way.”

“Jennifer…” Emily starts.

“I’m fine, Em. And I’ll be with Hotch interviewing Rogers’ family, right?” Hotch nods. “I’ll be fine.”

Emily stares at her a moment, then nods. “Fine. But please be careful.”

JJ grins. “You, too. Not sure I want to see you in a bikini on this trip, you know?”

The group shares a needed chuckle then split up to do the new round of interviews. Garcia, with new information to plug into her programs, gets to work digging deeper into the lives of the 5 known victims.


	10. Chapter 10

That evening the team gathers back in the conference room to go over any new information. Emily walks up behind JJ, automatically rubbing her shoulders to try to ease some of the tension she sees. JJ gives her a small smile.

“So, what do we know?” Hotch asks, looking at Rossi.

“Janice Templeton was a state patrol officer. But she was only recently single, having divorced her husband because he didn’t like her career goals. Margie Lyons had been having an affair with her boss and ended up pregnant,” he pauses. “He convinced her to have an abortion.”

“Shit. Double whammy for her,” Morgan mutters.

“Yeah.”

Hotch looks to Morgan and Emily. “What did you find out?”

Emily stands and walks to the board. “Victim 4, Melania Peters. Best we can find is that she was gay. Out and proud so it would have been in their faces.” She points to the other victim. “Nicole Higgins had been a nun…until she left the convent because she was a lesbian and felt that if God made her gay it can’t be wrong.”

“In light of this information I don’t think it’s a coincidence that there was more evidence of pre-river trauma on Higgins and Lyons,” JJ points out.

“Their actions would have been the most offensive to a religious zealot,” Rossi agrees.

“What about Rogers?” Reid asks.

“Best we could come up with is her recent divorce. According to her ex-husband it was amicable and no cheating was involved. They were childhood sweethearts that just grew apart,” Hotch says, his mind obviously on his own failed marriage and its similarities.

“Okay, so we know why they were targeted. But we still don’t know by whom? Or where they are being kept,” Reid points out.

“And we have another thing to consider,” Morgan states. “We crashed their the temple. Gabriel said he’d been cutting ‘trails’. Plural. They may change their drop zone.”

Hotch stares at the team a moment, then sighs. “We’ll have to pick his up again tomorrow. Garcia can you set a program to run possible dump sites?”

“Already running again, my liege.”

“Good. We’ll be back at it 7 a.m.”

The team stops at the local bar and grill for a burger then heads back to where they are staying. As they get into their hotel room, Emily pulls JJ to her and breathes in the scent of her lover. JJ just relaxes into the hug, knowing they both need the contact. After a few moments she leans back and sees the tears in Emily’s eyes.

“I’m okay, Em.”

“When I saw you laying on the ground…saw the blood…” Emily’s voice trails off.

“I’m okay. I swear.”

Emily draws a finger lightly down the bruise on JJ’s cheek and temple. “I…I know we said…on cases we wouldn’t but…I need to…if you can.”

JJ smiles and pulls Emily down into a deep kiss. In just a few moments they are naked and in bed. Emily kisses her way down JJ’s neck to her breasts. JJ arches into the touch, her fingernails scraping down Emily’s back. Emily moans as her hand dives down between JJ’s legs. 

“Yes, Em!” she says urgently.

Emily thrusts into JJ’s depths, never breaking her attention to the blonde’s breasts. As she feels JJ nearing climax, Emily looks up into JJ’s eyes.

“I love you so much, Jennifer.”

JJ barely controls the scream that wants to rip through her body. As she comes down from the high, Emily eases down beside her and pulls her close. 

“You are my world, Jennifer. You and Henry. I love you so much.”

“I love you, too, Em. Promise me you won’t go off on your own? Don’t give those bastards a chance to hurt you.”

Emily pulls JJ close and kisses her. “I promise.”


	11. Chapter 11

The next morning as Emily and JJ meet up with Hotch, Garcia and Rossi, JJ smiles at them.

“We figured out why I’m a Jezebel!”

Garcia laughs. “I could have told you that, Blondie.”

Emily rolls her eyes. “Watch it, Garcia. You’re talking about the woman I love.” Garcia chuckles. “On the trail when Morgan and I were being watched we did a ‘happy couple’ cover. But the night before, when JJ was feeling sick, I had my arm around her going out to the SUV’s. And she cuddled up into me as we drove here.”

“I felt like I was being watched. I chalked it up to it being part of the motion sickness but maybe Gabriel or his master was watching. They see Emily, who fits the profile of women they want to ‘save’ and then they see me as coming between her and Morgan, what they would consider a biblical relationship.”

“It makes sense,” Hotch says. “Well, as much as a delusion like that could make sense. Let’s go.”

At the station, the let Reid and Morgan know what they’ve figured out. Morgan winces. “Jayje, I’m sorry.”

JJ lays a hand on his arm. “It’s okay. You couldn’t have known. And, in all honesty, it’s given us an insight that we didn’t have before so maybe it was a good thing.”

“Maybe. But we still don’t know how to find these bastards or Marielle Rogers.”

“Hello, Agents.”

The team turns to find a man standing just inside the doorway of their conference room. JJ is the first to react. She pulls her gun and screams at him.

“HANDS UP!”

Her reaction tells the team exactly who this man is. Morgan and Rossi step to the man who calmly raises his hands. Morgan spins him and around and pins him to the wall, frisking him and then cuffing him. He spins him back around and shoves him into a seat. JJ still has her gun trained on the man. Images of Henry flash through her mind. A hand covers hers.

“JJ,” Emily whispers gently. “Holster your weapon.” JJ doesn’t move. “Jennifer…please.”

JJ lets out the breath she had been holding. Her hands slowly lower. She glances around at her team, then holsters her gun. “Excuse me.” She walks out of the room and into the bathroom. Emily looks at Garcia and nods to her. Garcia goes after her friend. Rossi closes the door behind the analyst as Hotch moves to stand in front of John Gabriel.

“What is your name?”

“John Gabriel.”

“You’re real name?”

“I have been reborn as John Gabriel. Who I was before was a blasphemy unto God. I have been saved.” He looks to Emily. “And soon you will be saved, too. He has promised it to be. You must rejoice and open yourself to his love.”

Morgan goes to sneer something at the man but Emily’s voice stops him.

“Really? I can be saved?” She asks with wonder. The team lets her roll with this tactic for the moment.

“Yes, you can. The blond Jezebel has led you astray. But he can bring you back to the righteous path.” He looks at Morgan. “Back to the man you should be with instead of the woman who aims to lead you to Satan.”

Emily approaches the man and kneels in front of him. “How? How can he do this for me?”

“God speaks directly to him,” Gabriel answers, convinced he is getting through to the woman. “God tells him who must be saved and it is my job to bring them to him.”

“I see,” Emily gives him a coy look. “But why me? What makes me so special?”

“Because you are like his angel. Her beauty is magnificent.” His eyes darken. “But then Satan’s forces led her astray. Made her do bad things. He had to save her. But he made a mistake. She died before she could be baptized. Now we make sure the women are received into God’s hands before they die.”

“So…that’s why you throw them into the river alive?”

“Yes!” Gabriel answers eagerly, convinced Emily is buying into this insanity. “And he asked me to come to you today to let you know he will rescue you soon.”

Emily’s eyes darken. She stands and glares down at the man. “Gee. Lucky me.”

Hotch nods to Morgan and Rossi. They drag the man up and out of the room. Gabriel starts to scream about how they need to let him go so he can prepare Emily for his master. Emily turns and looks at Hotch and Reid.

“Well, I think I could use another shower.”

“At least now we know why he does it,” Reid states.

“But unless Gabriel gives Rossi or Morgan any more information we still don’t know who the Master is or where Marielle is,” Hotch points out.

“But we know the motivation. We need Garcia,” Emily says, heading for the bathroom. She opens the door and finds JJ leaning against the sink, Garcia standing in front of her. “Garcia, he gave us some info and we need you to work some magic.”

“Okay.” The vibrant blond squeezes JJ’s arm. “I love you, you know?”

JJ smiles at her. “I know. Thanks, Pen.”

As the door closes behind her, Emily pulls JJ into a hug. They stand that way for a few minutes.

“I could have killed him, Em. I could see Henry and you and my parents and I knew I could pull that trigger because he tried to take me away from all of you.”

“You didn’t pull the trigger, Jennifer. He didn’t take you conscience or your humanity. If he did, you wouldn’t be regretting what you didn’t actually do.”

“What did he tell you?”

“He confirmed he is the kidnapper but he does it on command from his puppet master. He also explained the victimology. We look like someone his Master has lost before he could save her. They throw the victims into the river alive so they can be baptized before they die.”

“Oh, God. I know we’d suspected but that’s just horrible.”

“Yeah. But we can guess this death occurred within the last year. It was the stressor that led to this spree. We find the death, we find the Master, we find Rogers. Come on. We need all hands for this one.”

They start to walk out but JJ stops. She brings a hand up to Emily’s cheek. “Thank you.” She gives Emily a small kiss.

Emily smiles. “Just doing my job, ma’am.” They both chuckle then head back to the conference room.


	12. Chapter 12

The rest of Thursday Morgan and Rossi try to get as much information out of their prisoner as they can but he reveals very little. Garcia has been able to pull death records in Alaska for 200 women who fit the victimology. Reid, Hotch, JJ and Emily spend the day doing background checks and calling family members of the women trying to track ‘the Master’ that way. Around 4 p.m. Cheryl Runningwater comes into the conference room.

“We finally got Gabriel’s prints. My guys are running them now.”

“Good. If nothing pans out get a copy to Garcia. We have access to a few more databases than you and may be able to find something.”

“Sounds good.”

“Chief Runningwater,” Reid says standing up. “The areas that you helped us discount as kick off points, do you think a path could have been concealed in both of them?”

“Yeah, no problem. If they do it far enough off the road. I mean, none of us are going to traipse into thick brush on the off chance a psycho has decided to cut a trail to the river.”

“So we need to check out those places.” In addition to the first two places Cheryl had discounted, several more possibles had come out of a second search and some had also been eliminated by the chief.

“So we have 7 places in addition to the first to check.” Hotch glances at his watch. “Obviously not tonight. But we need to check them tomorrow or Marielle dies on Saturday.”

“Morgan and I can take the east side of the river,” Emily offers.

“Good. Reid and I will take the west side,” Hotch looks Cheryl. “If we can narrow down possible drop sites, would it be possible to get a helicopter scrambled on Saturday, just in case someone ends up in the river?”

“Yeah, no problem. The big bosses want this taken care of. We can also have boats on stand by at various points on the river just in case,” she adds.

“Perfect. Let’s get Rossi and Morgan and call it a night. We have a lot of hiking to do tomorrow.”


	13. Chapter 13

It is about noon and Morgan and Emily are approaching the third site on their list. The GPS signals for them to stop and Emily stretches as she steps out of the vehicle.

“I thought I was in good shape but I have muscles hurting that I didn’t even know existed.”

“Me, too,” Morgan agrees. They lean against the vehicle a minute, mentally preparing for their next trek. “How’s JJ doing?”

“She’s good. Still mad as hell at Gabriel and ‘the Master’ but she’s going to be fine once we get this guy in custody.”

“Emily, I just want to say…I’m proud of you two.” Emily looks at him questioningly. “We were all a little concerned about how you could be together and still be on the team. I was scared it would break us up somehow. But you all have been as professional as ever. If anyone ever tries to say differently, I’ve got your back. I just want you to know that.”

Emily smiles sincerely. “Thanks, Morgan. That really means a lot to me.” She pauses. “You know, you’re the best friend I’ve ever had. I mean, I had friends but none I would trust with my life and my secrets the way I trust you. You mean the world to me, Derek.”

He smiles at her. “Same here, Emily.”

“So, I guess this means you’ll be my man of honor at my wedding?” Emily asks nervously.

He steps in front of her, staring into her eyes. “Really? You want me to stand with you?” Emily nods, biting her lip nervously. He lifts her hand and kisses the back of it. “Thank you. You know I’ll be there.”

She smiles at him, glad to have gotten that settled. She glances at her watch and sighs. “Time to get moving.”

“Yep.”

Without another word, the two head into the brush. About 20 feet into the brush and tree line, Emily calls out to Morgan.

“Morgan! I found it!”

Morgan makes his way to Emily. She stands at the start of a path that had recently been widened. Morgan pulls out the satellite phone.

“Goddess of the All Knowing, Alaska office, how can I help you?”

Morgan chuckles. “Baby girl, Prentiss and I are at our third stop. We’ve found a trail.”

“Okay, let me make note of that. Just so you know, Reid and Hotch struck a stairway to heaven on their third stop.”

“So this guy has multiple points of entry. Damn. Look we’re going to climb up and see what’s at the top. We’ll be back in touch in an hour or so.”

“I will await you call with bells on my toenails, my chocolate delight.”

As they disconnect, Morgan looks at Emily laughing. “She’s truly insane.”

Emily raises an eyebrow. “You just figuring that out?”

With another laugh the two start up the trail. 45 minutes later they come to another area that had been prepared as an altar. They look all around.

“I don’t think he’s used this one yet. No signs of struggle, no candle wax on the altar. It’s just another fallback position,” Emily concludes.

“Yeah. And I’m worried that there are more of these than we’ve even guessed. How the hell do we figure out which one he plans to use for Rogers?”

Emily shakes her head. “We’ll have to stake them all out. We can run some probability programs to figure out best bets but it’s still going to be guesswork.”

“And if we guess wrong, we’ll have another death on the board and, most likely, you’ll be his next target.”

Emily wants to argue that point but knows she can’t. They snap a few pictures of the area then head back down to the vehicle. After checking the fourth spot and finding nothing they head back to the ranger station. They find JJ and Rossi still pouring over death notices that Garcia had found. After helping themselves to the sandwiches Rossi had had delivered, Morgan and Emily grab some files and start to help. About an hour after they arrive, JJ sits up.

“I think I’ve got her!” She starts to summarize a death notice. “Stephanie Benson, age 34, died early Sunday morning in a single car accident. Word at the scene was that she had been driving while intoxicated. Her husband, the former reverend Charles Benson, is quoted as saying, ‘She had been trying to find her way back to God but couldn’t outrun Satan’s forces.’” JJ looks back up at everyone. This was 3 months before the first woman was taken.”

Rossi is intrigued. “Is there a picture?”

JJ nods. “Yeah.” She looks at Emily. “She could be your twin.”

JJ hands the page to Emily who immediately sees the resemblance. She hands it across the table to Morgan and Rossi.

“Okay, he’s a former priest, that makes sense. And DUI can be considered a sin but my guess is there is more to her sins than just that.”

“Maybe, maybe not,” Rossi points out. “To a fundamentalist, just the consumption of alcohol is a condemnable act.”

“True,” Morgan agrees. “I think we need to go speak to the former reverend.”

Emily stands. “Okay, let’s go.”

Rossi raises an eyebrow. “Prentiss…really?”

Emily rolls her eyes. “Look, if he is our unsub, I could rattle him.”

“Yeah, but in an uncontrolled environment it could spook him and he’ll kill you or Rogers. We have to proceed with caution,” Rossi insists.

As much as Emily wants to meet the man, she can’t argue with Rossi’s statement. She drops back down into her chair. “I hate when I’m wrong.”

Rossi raises an eyebrow. “You’re getting married, Emily. Get used to it.”

Everyone laughs, knowing Rossi has been married 3 times. Morgan calls Hotch and lets him know where he Rossi are going. Hotch warns them to be careful then tells him there had only been the one trail on their side of the river. Morgan passes the information on as he and Rossi leave.

Emily sits back in her chair, running a hand over her face. JJ pats her thigh.

“You look tired.”

“I am. I’ve hiked more in 3 days than I have in my entire life. And I lived in the Alps for 2 years!” JJ and Garcia chuckle. Before she can say any more, Cheryl walks into the room, her face ashen. “What’s wrong?” Emily asks.

“Just got a call from the staties. John Gabriel, or whoever the hell he really is, killed himself.”

Emily’s eyes narrow. “How?”

“Hung himself with a bedsheet.”

“Shit,” JJ says.

Emily slowly shakes her head. “No. That doesn’t make sense. Suicide is a sin. He’s a zealot. He wouldn’t kill himself.”

“You saying he was murdered?”

“I think it’s something we need to consider,” Emily states.

“But he was in state police custody,” Garcia points out. “Reverend Benson couldn’t have gotten to him.”

Cheryl looks at Garcia in surprise. “Charles Benson?”

Garcia nods. “He sort of fits the profile so Rossi and Morgan are going to interview him.”

Cheryl nods. “I see. But I can tell you there is no way he’s the one dropping those women off the cliff.”

“How can you be so sure?” JJ asks.

“Because Charles Benson is a disabled vet. He lost a leg to an IED in Afghanistan 3 years ago. He was an Army chaplain and had responded to a shootout to offer comfort to the wounded. The bomb ripped through his Humvee and he was the only one who made it out alive.” She shrugs. “That’s when he lost his heart for preaching. He came home and his marriage started to fall apart. Word was they were close to reconciling but Stephanie was killed in a car accident.”

The three FBI agents consider what they have been told. JJ sits forward in her seat. “Cheryl, had Stephanie been seeing someone while she and her husband were having troubles?”

Cheryl shrugs uncomfortably. “I hate to speak ill of the dead, but yeah. She’d dated a few guys.”

Emily also sits forward, seeing where JJ is going with this line of questioning. “Anyone who may have been upset that she was getting back with her husband?”

Cheryl thinks a moment. They all see the light dawn in her eyes. “Patty Shields.”

“Patty? A woman?” Emily clarifies.

Cheryl shakes her head. “No, his full name is Patrick Shields. He owns the bar and grill. I remember him burning holes in Charles with his eyes at the funeral. I just assumed it was because some blamed Charles for Steph’s troubles. Maybe it was something else.”

“Does he have any connection to the state police?”

Cheryl drops into a chair and runs her hand across her face. “His brother-in-law was one of the troopers that picked Gabriel up from here. Fuck!”

Emily is already dialing Morgan as JJ dials Hotch. It is decided Morgan and Rossi will go ahead and interview Benson just to clear the man. Hotch and Reid head to the bar and grill to speak with Shields.

Twenty minutes later, Hotch calls in. “Shields isn’t here. No one has seen him since Wednesday.”


	14. Chapter 14

One of the things a lot of people like about Alaska is it is very easy to disappear. Large swaths of uninhabited land give those who want to escape the real world a chance to be truly on their own. Whether they own their own large tract to allow them to live in solitude or they squat on someone else’s land, if someone doesn’t want to be found, Alaska is a good place to become invisible.

And while that was good for the individual, it really sucked for officials who needed to track someone down.

“We’ve checked the three locations Shield’s pays taxes on and no luck. There has got to be somewhere else,” Hotch says in frustration.

Cheryl slowly shakes her head. “There may be but it’s easy to hide a mobile home, tent, even a cabin up here. We only have so many rangers and every year we only find a handful of those who are squatting on public land. He could be anywhere.”

“Not anywhere,” Emily says. They all look at her. “He has to be close to the altars. He would need to know which one is safe to use.”

“That’s still a lot of ground to cover,” Morgan points out.

“True. But if he holds to pattern, at some point tomorrow, Marielle Rogers is going into the river,” Hotch states. He looks at Reid. “What we the approximate time the women went in the river?”

Reid scans the information stored in his eidetic memory. “It was assumed they went in between 6 and 9 pm but it was hard to tell due to the damage done by the river and how cold the water is.”

“We get some sleep then and plan to be at the trails by 5 pm tomorrow,” Hotch states.

“No, we need to be there earlier,” Rossi points out. “He has a ritual he has to go through, a ceremony. We have no idea how long it takes.”

Hotch runs a hand over his face. “You’re right. Okay, Cheryl, can you and two men stake out the initial altar? Chances are he won’t use that one since we disturbed it but just in case.”

Cheryl nods. “Got it.”

“Morgan, Prentiss, take the one you found. Reid and I will take the one we found.” He looks at Rossi. “Dave, Cheryl says she can get us a helicopter and—”

“Oh, HELL no, Aaron!” Rossi protests. “You saw the way the winds tossed a plane around imagine what they will do to a helicopter!”

“Dave, I need your eyes up there. You will see things rangers and troopers are not trained to see. You’re the best one to cover us from above,” Hotch finishes.

Dave lets out a string of words in Italian. Emily is impressed by the colorful curses. “Fine. But if I end up as green in the gills as JJ you better keep away from me, Hotchner.”

Hotch gives his friend a small grin. “JJ, Cheryl is going to have boats stationed at various points along the river just in case. I need you and Garcia to know where those boats are at all times and to deploy them the minute it sounds like someone has gone into the river. Hopefully your job will be unnecessary.” JJ just nods in agreement. “We get to our posts at noon. Constant radio contact, understood?” Everyone nods. “Good. Let’s get a good night’s sleep and bring this to a close tomorrow and get Rogers home to her family.”


	15. Chapter 15

It is just before noon and Morgan and Emily are reporting to their stake out location. Cheryl had told them about a logging road they could use to conceal their SUV. They are almost there when Morgan slams on the brakes.

“Whoa! A little warning next time,” Emily complains.

Morgan throws the vehicle in reverse and backs up about 15 feet. He points into the trees.

“Look.”

Emily sees the cleverly concealed back end of a Ford Bronco. She pulls her gun and slips out of the SUV. She gets close enough to see it is empty and to read the tag number. She heads back to Morgan. “It’s his.”

Morgan calls Hotch, “Hotch, we found Shields’ Bronco. We’re heading up to his altar now.”

“Be careful, Morgan. I’ll call Dave and get him in the air. I’ll get Cheryl to dispatch rangers to back you up.”

“Right.” Morgan looks at Emily. “Let’s go.”

The two agents leave their SUV right where it is so back up will know where to enter the woods. Guns at the ready, they make their way as quietly as possible up the woodland trail. As they near the top, they hear a woman crying.

“I swear I will repent. Please don’t do this, Patty. Please!”

“You must be baptized, Marielle. It is the only way to save you.” His speech suddenly changes to an unintelligible string of words. Morgan looks to Emily, the language expert.

She shakes her head and whispers, “May be speaking in tongues.”

Morgan just nods and they continue forward. Just before they reach the clearing, Morgan signals for Emily to stop and he moves into the tree line. He carefully chooses his steps to minimize any sound he is making. From the cover of the forest, he sees Marielle Rogers kneeling in front of the altar, her hands bound and wearing only a bikini. Candles burn on the altar and another book sits open upon it. Shields raises a gold chalice towards the sky.

“By your blood she is saved, my Lord.”

He turns and throws the contents of the chalice onto Rogers. Morgan is sure it really is blood and can only hope it’s from an animal and not a victim they hadn’t yet found. He keys his radio to remain on, so the rest of the team can monitor what is happening at the cliff. Morgan lifts his mike and whispers into it.

“Move up slowly, Prentiss. He’s not right by Rogers and you should startle him some. That should give me chance to tackle him.”

“Right. Moving in,” Emily responds.

She slowly moves towards the clearing, gun at the ready. Rogers sees her first. Before Emily can signal her for quiet, the woman screams.

“HELP ME! PLEASE!”

Shields spins around and sees Emily. He is momentarily shocked but moves faster than the FBI agents had anticipated. He grabs Rogers and drags her to her feet and towards the edge.

“DON’T DO IT, MAN!” Morgan warns. “It’s over, Shields. Let her go and put your hands in the air.”

Shields flick his eyes to Morgan but then he looks back at Emily. “Don’t you understand why I’m doing this? Don’t you understand how I can save her? And you?”

“I understand you have murdered 4 women. And I’ll be damned if you’ll murder a fifth.”

His demeanor suddenly changes. “But I never murdered anyone.”

“You bound their wrists, put them in bikinis and tossed them in the river. What the fuck do you call that?” Emily pushes.

“Salvation. They were baptized then they died. But I never killed them.”

“You sure as hell didn’t save them,” she points out.

“But I did. It was the river that killed them. It acts as the hand of God and kills them before they can sin again. It is how it must be.”

A second too late, the agents realize he is not going to hold Marielle Rogers hostage. “INTO GOD’S HAND I COMMEND YOUR SPIRIT!” He yells as he tosses her over the edge. A moment later he is tackled by Morgan.

Morgan looks up in time to see Emily leap over the edge after the woman. “EMILY! NO!”

Emily has one thought before she hits the icy water below. “JJ is gonna kill me.”


	16. Chapter 16

In the conference room JJ and Garcia exchange a worried look. JJ slowly starts to shake her head.

“She wouldn’t…”

Morgan’s voice explodes back over the radio. “PRENTISS AND ROGERS ARE IN THE RIVER! I REPEAT: PRENTISS AND ROGERS ARE IN THE RIVER!”

They can hear Shield’s spouting off religious dogma as Morgan starts to read him his rights. JJ grabs another radio.

“This is Agent Jareau to rescue boat 3. Two victims in the water from point Alpha. Do you copy?”

“Rescue boat 3, copy Agent Jareau. We’re ready to launch when we see them. Over.”

JJ puts the radio down, unable to control her shaking hands. “I’m gonna kill her, Pen.”

Garcia reaches over and takes JJ’s hand. JJ closes her eyes and prays for Emily’s safety.

As they are running down to their SUV, Hotch looks at Reid. “Chances?”

“Without a drysuit…not good,” Reid answers.

“Fuck,” Hotch mutters.

* * *

The cold water hits Emily like a sledge hammer. The initial plunge had taken her well below the surface of the water and it takes her body a moment to obey her survival instincts and kick to the surface. By the time she does, she is out of sight of Morgan’s position. She orients herself down river and starts to swim with the current. Up ahead she can see Marielle Rogers fighting to keep her head up with her hands bound. As cold as Emily is she can’t imagine what the woman in the bikini is feeling.

Dodging rocks and river debris, Emily sees she is catching up to Marielle. She remembers the river map on the wall and knows she needs to get Marielle out of the raging river soon or they would be in the rapids. Emily knows it will be nearly impossible for them to survive the rapids without protective gear.

Just as Emily nears Marielle, the woman goes under.

“ _Oh, no. Not when I’m this close_ ,” Emily thinks.

Emily strokes harder and is relieved to see Marielle resurface once more. Emily reaches out and grabs the woman by the hair. Marielle spins, shocked to see Emily. Emily quickly pulls the woman closer, wrapping an arm around her neck and aiming their feet down river. Emily tries to speak but finds her mouth is so cold she has trouble forming words.

“ _That can’t be good_ ,” she points out to herself. Knowing economy is the best way to go, she gets her mouth near Marielle’s ears. “R—rocks.” She stutters. “O—on t—t—top.”

Emily is shocked that Marielle seems to understand what the agent has said. Emily aims for a large rock, her feet together to help with the idea in her head. If she hits it just right she should be able to use the momentum from the river to vault them up and onto the top of the rock. She braces herself for impact.

“UNGH!” She screams as her right ankle twists when it hits the rock. But the two women do get pushed upward by the force of the river like Emily had hoped. But her weakened ankle starts to give before they get completely up onto the rock. Emily uses all of the strength she has left to propel Marielle up onto the rock. As she lets the woman go, the river takes hold of the agent and drags her back into the racing waters.

As she is spun around, Emily sees Marielle safe on top of the rock. As she gets dragged under by a rip current, Emily sees a helicopter streaking through the sky.

“ _Oh good_ ,” she thinks. “ _They’ll be able to get to Marielle_.” She fights to surface one more. She notices her legs and arms aren’t quite obeying her. “ _Maybe I just need a nap and my legs will—NO! No, Emily, fight! Don’t you dare give up! You have too much to live for_!”

A picture of JJ and Henry flashes through her mind. She fights against the pull of the river, trying to get her arms and legs to move her towards the shore. Just when she thinks she might make it to an eddy, she is dragged under again. She resurfaces a little closer to shore. She has a moment of hope. Unfortunately the nexy thing she sees is a rock seeming to rise up out of the water at her.

“ _Oh, shit. Not good_.”

Her only blessing is that her body is so numb from the cold it doesn’t hurt nearly as much as she thought it would when she crashes into the rock. Fireworks explode behind her eyes lids and her body slides limply into the water.

* * *

 

 In the chopper, Rossi is yelling out directions to the rescue boat below. As much as he wants to stay after Emily, he understands they have to hover over Rogers to make sure the boat doesn’t miss the unmoving woman. Though he knows he’ll hate himself for the thought later, he can’t help but think that Rogers already seems gone and they should ignore her and go after Emily.

He glances down river and sees the red of Emily’s jacket still bouncing in the current. It looks like she is still fighting towards shore but he can’t be sure.

He looks up river again and sees the rescue boat coming. “Rescue 3, you need to get 10’ to port or you’ll miss her. Over.”

“Rescue 3, copy.”

Rossi watches as the boat corrects its course. Everything seems to be going in slow motion to Rossi but the boat is finally guided up to the rock. He watches as two men settle the boat and two men get out to retrieve Rogers. Once they have her on the boat, his radio cackles again.

“This is Rescue 3, we have one victim on board. Breathing is shallow. We’ll need an ambulance to meet us at Emergency access 4.”

Rossi breathes a sigh of relief. The chopper heads on down river. Rossi scans the water. He can no longer see Emily’s red coat.

“Come on, Prentiss, where the fuck are you? You’re too damn stubborn to lose to a damn river. Where are you? Damn it, Emily! You have too much to live for! Where the fuck are you?!”

The chopper flies beyond where Emily could have gotten in that amount of time. The pilot hovers to a stop then rotates the helicopter around and starts back up the river. Just when Rossi is ready to accept the unacceptable, he sees a flash of red.

“THERE!”

The pilot slows the craft and heads in the direction Rossi points. The entire BAU team is listening to their radios, holding their breaths, praying.

“This is Chopper 1 to Rescue 2. Victim spotted on east bank just before the start of rapids. We don’t have enough room to sit down but will hover near her location. Over.”

“This is Rescue 2. Copy.”

* * *

 

 In the conference room, JJ can no longer sit still. She stands and starts to pace. Garcia closes her eyes and prays harder than she’s ever prayed before. Hotch leans against his SUV, not knowing what he will do if he loses an agent; a friend. Reid does his best to command the stats that fly through his head to stop. Morgan stares at the man now in the back of a police cruiser and knows he will gladly lose his badge getting revenge if they lose Emily. From his spot in the air, Rossi stares at Emily’s body, praying for her to move but the dark haired agent remains motionless.

Though it had only been a couple of minutes, it seems like hours before the radio comes back to life.

“This is Rescue 2. We’ve spotted the body and are moving in to collect.”

In the conference room, JJ can’t stop the tears. “Why the fuck are they saying it like she’s dead? She is NOT dead!”

Garcia gets up and pulls her into a hug. “I know, sweetie. They don’t know her like we do. They don’t know how tough she is and how much she has to live for.”

On the banks, two men jump out and race towards Emily. Another man follows with a large medical kit, even though it doesn’t look like it will be needed. The first man to reach the agent leans down and searches for a pulse. A moment later he leaps up, frantically waving at the man with the medical kit. Rossi lets out the breath he’d been holding as he watches the first two men start to pull the wet clothes off of Emily’s body. Soon she is wrapped in thermal blankets and strapped to a backboard, her neck in an immobilizer, her right leg in an air cast.

JJ shakes as she hears the radio come to life again.

“This is Rescue 2. Transporting patient to Emergency access 6 for immediate transport to a medical facility. Over.”

JJ’s knees give out and she would have fallen if Garcia hadn’t caught her. “She’s alive, Pen. She’s ALIVE!”

“Of course she is, Jayje. She’s Emily!” Garcia says as if that’s all anyone needs to know.


	17. Chapter 17

The first thing Emily becomes aware of is an annoying beeping noise. “ _What kind of alarm clock is that_?” She wonders. She then realizes she is cold. Colder than she has ever been in her life. Her mouth aches as her teeth chatter uncontrollably. She hears a strange voice.

“Keep the I.V. warm. Anything to get her temperature back up.”

_“Temperature? I.V.? Who’s hurt_?” Emily wonders. She tries to open her eyes to see but they are too heavy. “ _Why am I so tired? And why won’t someone turn off that damn alarm_?”

Sounds fade around her as Emily drops back down into the void.

The next time Emily starts to come around again she remembers what has happened. She struggles to open her eyes. She feels a hand on her cheek.

“Come on, Em. That’s it, baby, open your eyes for me. Let me see those gorgeous brown eyes of yours.”

“J—Jen,” Emily croaks, her eyes still closed.

“Yes, baby, it’s me. Come on and wake up for me.”

This time Emily manages to get her eyes open. She sees JJ’s worried eyes staring down at her.

“M—Mar—Mar—,” she fights to ask.

“Marielle Rogers will be fine,” JJ answers. She tucks a lock of hair behind Emily’s ear. “You saved her.” Emily is exhausted. She can only nod. “Do you remember what happened?”

“R—rock. Ri—river.”

JJ’s smile broadens. “Yes, baby, that’s right. Oh, God, you’re really back with us. We’ve been terrified.”

Emily frowns. “H—how long?”

“You’ve been in and out for 3 days. They had never seen someone so cold make it before.” JJ leans forward and kisses Emily’s forehead. “We told them they’d never met anyone as stubborn as you.” Emily gives a small smile. “In addition to the cold, your right ankle is broken. You’ve got 3 broken ribs. And more cuts and bruises than I’ve ever seen before. But the cold was their biggest fear. They were worried that…that…” she chokes off as tears well up in her eyes.

Emily tries to reach out to JJ but notices for the first time that she is completely tucked in. “Jen…I’m…’kay. Don’…cry.”

JJ leans down, her forehead on Emily’s. “When I realized you were in the river I wanted to throttle you. You didn’t need to come out so injured to make me change my mind, you know.”

Emily smiles. She moves her head enough to bring her lips to JJ’s. They share a chaste kiss that warms Emily more than any of the medical gear surrounding her. “Love you, Jen.”

“I love you, too, Emily.” Emily’s eyes close, her body still too tired to stay awake long. JJ caresses Emily’s face. “You are the bravest, craziest, most wonderful woman I’ve ever met. And you may just be the death of me, Emily Prentiss,” JJ says to her sleeping lover. “But I wouldn’t trade you for anything.”

* * *

 

 Two days later JJ and Emily are boarding a commercial flight, the team having had to return to Quantico before Emily had awakened. Emily had upgraded the FBI standard coach tickets to first class, claiming there was no way she was going coach with her injuries. They are not in the air long when Emily falls back asleep, her head on JJ’s shoulder. JJ holds her lover’s hand, the entire flight, too aware of how close she came to losing her.

When they arrive at Dulles International they are surprised to see Derek Morgan bringing the wheelchair on the plane for Emily. He glares at Emily.

“I flashed my badge to be allowed to do this so I can dump your butt on the ground for scaring the crap out of me.”

Emily smiles up at him. “I love you, too, Derek.”

He walks over and kneels down beside her. “You scared the hell out of me, Prentiss. Let’s not do that again, okay?”

She takes his hand. “I’ll do my best, Morgan.”

JJ and Morgan get Emily situated in the wheelchair. When they arrive at baggage claim Emily smiles as she sees her entire BAU family, Sandy and Henry, and, to her surprise, her mother waiting for them. Henry starts bouncing in Sandy’s arms and JJ races forward to take him, peppering his face with kisses as he giggles happily.

Elizabeth Prentiss steps to her daughter and kneels down in front of her. “You have a family to think about, Emily. Please leave the cliff diving to the professionals.”

Emily is shocked that her mother made a joke. “I promise, Mother, no more cliff diving if I can help it.”

“I guess I will have to accept that. Now, let’s get you home.”

Emily just nods, then thinks about her condo…and the stairs she’ll have to take. “Oh. Damn. I guess I’ll be sleeping on the couch for a while.”

JJ turns and smiles at her. “Not that you don’t deserve to after scaring us like you did but we’ve got something else in mind.”

Emily raises an eyebrow. “Oh? What do you mean by ‘we’?”

Looks are exchanged among everyone standing there. Emily sighs nervously. “Why do I think I have been ganged up on?”

Garcia steps forward and gives her a hug. “Because you are still a bad-ass profiler even if you are a little bruised up.”

Emily laughs. “Okay. Well, let’s get going.”

Forty-five minutes later, Emily is staring out at a large house with a nice yard about 30 minutes from Quantico. “What’s this?”

Her mother reaches over and squeezes Emily’s hand. “Your engagement gift from me.”

Emily’s eyed widen. “What?” she screams and immediately regrets it as it jars her broken ribs. Holding her chest she tries to choke out some questions. “Mother…what…how?

“Henry is getting bigger and needs a nice yard to play in. Plus once you and JJ decide to have more kids you’ll need the extra space,” the ambassador answers.

“More…kids?” Emily squeaks.

“Oh, yes. Sandy and I agree we’d love to have 3 or 4 grandkids. And with you both being women you can pop them out even faster than most families. This is perfect!”

Emily stares at her mother as if she’s grown a second head. She slowly turns and looks at JJ.

“Am I dead? Is this some sort of weird afterlife thing?”

JJ shakes her head. “Nope.” JJ lets Emily panic a second longer then starts to laugh. “Actually, it’s just a rental. You’ll be in a leg cast another 5 weeks so this is just temporary until you’re back in one piece.”

“You are a sick, cruel woman, Jennifer Jareau,” Emily mutters as everyone laughs at her.

As Morgan begins to wheel Emily into the house, the profiler hears her mother’s voice.

“Sandy and I weren’t kidding about the grandkids, Emily.”

Emily shudders. “I still think she’s been taken over by a pod person.”

JJ laughs and rubs Emily’s shoulder as they head into the house to continue the healing process.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I did some online research into Denali National Park but still took a few liberties with the Nenana River. No offense intended I just had to make it work for my story.


End file.
